Little Falls, NJ – It seemed like seasons ago that sophomore reliever KEVIN RAKOWSKI-KUHLMAN was warming up, waiting to take the mound for Montclair State on Thursday afternoon. Instead, he found himself staring out the window of his hotel room Friday and Saturday, waiting for the rain to stop washing away any hopes of playing ball.

After killing time watching countless episodes of "SportsCenter" and playing so many games of Nintendo baseball, at long last he and his Red Hawk teammates got to play the real thing under an overcast sky Sunday morning.

Finally, Mother Nature had relented, giving the Red Hawks a chance to cap the stirring comeback they started some 64 hours earlier against Allentown in their Mid-Atlantic Regional opening game.

But as noisily as they stormed back into the game, they quickly and quietly capped a stunning turnaround from a 10-0 deficit, needed all 15 minutes and ½ frames to put the finishing touches on their 14-11 victory. An so this epic officially went into the books at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday after starting at 4 p.m. Thursday here at Yogi Berra Stadium.

"It was the longest game I've ever played in," Rakowski-Kuhlman said with a laugh after pitching two scoreless innings to earn the save.

Perhaps it was the most thrilling of all, though, for those in Montclair State red and white – even if it spanned multiple hours, days and raindrops. After all, it gave coach Norm Schoenig the 400^th victory of his illustrious career.

So, with their comeback completed, the Red Hawks could get Schoenig win No. 401 this morning against Rowan, an 8-2 victor over No. 4 Ursinus. The game will be staged at either 10:15 or 11 this morning, depending on how many teams remained in the regional after Sunday night.

"It's a great comeback," Schoenig said.

"I can't remember being down 10-0 and winning a game. You're not supposed to win these types of games, but these kids did."

"It builds your confidence," said junior third baseman CRAIG CONWAY, who finished 3-for-5 with six RBI. It just shows what you could do, definitely."

Before beginning their greatest comeback in recent memory, the No. 2-seeded Red Hawks (35-6-1) went hitless for five frame. They showed little of the life that made them one of the nation's top teams, not to mention a no-brainer for an at-large invite when they went two-and-through in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament.

Down 10-0 entering the home half of the sixth, Montclair started taking a patient approach at the plate. Four consecutive free passes later, the Red Hawks finally had their first run, chasing Allentown (25-18) starter Brian Gillow in the process.

From there, they felt a groundswell of confidence in their dugout. After pushing across four runs in the sixth, senior left fielder MARC HOUSER recalled turning to first-base coach Rick Giancola and offering up a few prophetic words: "We're still in this."

Then the Red Hawk hit parade sent 13 batters to the plate, breaking open the game with nine runs and seven hits, with Conway, Houser and senior designated hitter GEORGE GALLAGHER and senior first baseman FRANK FRANCIA all coming up with clutch hits to extend the onslaught.

At this point, Allentown coach Tim Neiman felt the color quickly drain from his face as hit worst nightmare played out on the field only to see it flash in bold lights across the scoreboard. "In all my days of baseball," Neiman said, "I never felt as helpless as I did in the seventh inning."

Said Centaurs third baseman Chris Caram: "I was shocked. A lot of college teams down 10-0 roll over and die. But they didn't. That's what good teams do. They just battled their way back into the game."

That is, before the rains came and stopped action with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. This left the Red Hawks looking for ways to kill time until they could take the field again.

Some 64 hours later, they came back and made quick work of Allentown. Rakowski-Kuhlman allowed only one hit in two frames while Conway's third double plated an insurance run in the eighth putting them within two games of a trip to the Division III College World Series while giving Schoenig a coaching milestone.

"I didn't even think about it," the 13^th-year skipper said. "It's great to be around these kids. We have excellent players and an outstanding coaching staff."

Not to mention a resilient bunch, as proven by a comeback that spanned parts of four days.

"We still have two tough teams ahead of us," said Francia referring to today's game against Rowan and a potential matchup with No. 1 seed The College of New Jersey. "Being down 10-0 and coming back shows a lot. I looked at (second baseman Dave) Wurst in the last inning and couldn't stop smiling.